Brainbox (A Short Story)
When humanity is forced to the edges of the last remaining habitable regions along Earth’s equator, three nations turn against one another, competing for resources in a desperate bid for survival. In an effort to end a decades-long stalemate with China and Russia, the American military turns to Miguel dos Santos, a brilliant roboticist living in self-imposed exile. They’re after his creation—the Autonomous Self Replicating Asset (ASRA)—a ruthless robot that makes the perfect soldier. Key to ASRA’s utility is its brainbox, a neurological processor that combines the logic and reasoning of a computer with the creativity and free will of a human. ASRA is the Americans’ best hope at finally winning the seventy-five-year Equatorial Wars, but as Miguel reluctantly carries out his orders, it becomes clear he has his own plans for the fate of humanity.
Brainbox is a stark, chilling vision of the future of warfare in a devastated, dystopian world.